Link in the Chain
by Darkmoon Redrose
Summary: Jane Jade Porter is on a harmless biology trip with her father, hippie friend and Clayton, the creepy guide. Who knew that Africa had other plans for her. What if she met a man, and Clayton had other plans than just snatching the Gorrilas. Modern Version of Tarzan.
1. What could possibly go wrong?

**Hello people :) Hope you enjoy the first chapter. I'm very nervous and i hope you like my version of Jane (you can decide if she is an OC or not. Please don't be mad) Would love a review or two if you amazing readers want to that is :3 It's always nice to hear from the audience and i promise to answer any questions :)**

* * *

I watched as we neared our destination in the deep blue sea via steam boat. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach at the amazing sight of Africa. A strip of yellow sand set us apart from lush, alive forests that reached and climbed up the mountainous skyline, joining green with the grey of the peaks and blue with the distant waterfalls. I felt a sense that I should have come here long ago.

"Hey were in Africa! This is so cool of your Dad to take us along." Lya grinned wickedly before vaulting over the side of the boat. Her appearance was certainly individual to that of her surroundings and had created quite a bit of attention while on the boat ride to where they were going to camp. Lya was a very small pixie like girl with the fashion sense of a Hippie that had their wardrobe thrown into a rainbow. In other words _anything_ with _any_ sight whatsoever would see her coming from a mile off. We had become close friends in our biology lectures back home in Britain and now practically never left each other's sides.

"Oh gosh," My father looked over the side of the boat wearily; making sure his pupil hadn't killed herself accidentally by leaping off the boat to soon. "Make sure you use this time to study the wildlife Lya. This isn't a holiday." He wiped his old brow with relief before chuckling nervously. My father's name is Archimedes Q Porter and the eccentricity doesn't just stay with his name. No, my Dad is thought of as a bit of an odd ball at University with his big bushy mustache and blue bow tie (He insists that bow ties are cool.) He also comes up with all sorts of theories all the time and likes to play the role of the mad scientist most of the time. This expedition was to try and document animal ecosystem behavior The reason for taking me and Lya was so we could try and help document animal behavior As studying Biology students we had just learned how different animals react differently to individual situations. I loved how other animals worked, the anatomy, psychology, everything. Hopefully this trip would extend my knowledge of it all plus the way of their habitat. This was one of the perks to having a Lecturer and Scientist for a father.

Lya rolled her grey eyes and flipped her auburn hair "Yeah, sure thing Sir. Hey, Mr Clayton can you chuck me my saxophone!" she smiled to the other man standing next to me. Mr Clayton was our guide and 'protector' but so far we have only heard bragging stories of how he wrestled bears in Canada and shot Bengal tigers in… well Bengal. He assured my father that he had left the hunting of animals for sport behind him but I wasn't so certain. His brutish appearance and the assortment of weapons on his persona made me skeptical.

"Sure." He picked up Lya's Saxophone and dropped it over the side of the boat in a care free manner. Lya's eyes widened from their sleepy state and I gasped. Her saxophone was her life and was previously owned by her father who had died 2 years ago, she never went anywhere without it, a lot like me and my sketch book.

She dived hand grabbed it before it hit the floor in an unusual burst of speed. I let out the breath I was holding before turning to glare at the hulking man next to me. Clayton saw my attempting-to-be-ferocious glare from the corner of his eye and turned on the innocent charm. "It was an accident," He shrugged "I'm sorry." the man placed a hand on my shoulder like a slippery bastard.

I jerked away. I never usually judged people before I got to know them but he was practically emanating I-am-a-slippery-pedophile! That was enough of an excuse for me to feel creeped out. Another thing was no one else noticed this side of our guide, only me! Maybe I was analyzing things too much. Take a step back Jade and look at the bigger picture. Has he done anything to you? No. Has he been helpful? Yes. Does he make you feel safe? I would rather take on a fully grown cougar than have him anywhere near me. Mind you she would have a small chance of taking Clayton down with all of the self-defense training I had taken. I knew I would be a dead woman if I tried to take on a big cat. No one was stupid enough to try and kill a big animal unarmed.

"Watch where you're dropping things!" Lya bellowed from down below, shaking a dramatic fist at Clayton. "Come on Jay let's get to the camp." The pixie diverted her attention to me.

I suppose now that I have told you about nearly everyone I should explain a little about myself. I'm Jane Jade Porter, Uni student from London who studies Biology and fine art. I also enjoy singing and Kick boxing, unfortunately just because I enjoy something doesn't mean I'm particularly good at it.

Unlike Lya I am rather bland. If I had to compare me and her I would be a chicken Corma and she would be a Vindaloo, (to put it into curry prospects). Average brown hair, medium height, unusually pale skin… the only things I am proud of are probably my physique and my mother's blue eyes that I inherited along with the capacity to draw. I had lost my mother when I was 9; I guess that is one of the reasons why I took up kick boxing. Jade Porter Is not going to be a person who relies on anyone!

I got off the boat in the correct manor and joined Lya down on the, soft, sandy beach. Converse may have not been the most appropriate footwear however I had smartly come in shorts and a t-shirt, anticipating the heat, which blended well with the jungle. Lya had managed to attach herself to her sax and we were just about to go down a path the ship crew had created to dump our stuff deep in the jungle when the Captain leaned over the side of the steam boat.

"Careful girls, strange things have been happening around these parts." He warned "people have gone crazy by staying here too long."

Lya and I exchanged glances before thanking the Captain and heading in the direction we were going before, leaving Father and our 'Protector' in the dust.

What's the craziest thing that could happen anyway?


	2. It's no gorilla

**Yo hope you enjoy chapter 2 :) i am working very quickly to get my ideas down so please do review and feel free to ask questions :3**

* * *

After a very uncomfortable night's sleep with Lya jabbing her knees, elbows and Saxophone into my side (honestly she even sleeps with the flipping instrument) I was quite cranky when I decided to get out of bed. It had also been extremely humid in the tent with two bodies in it and I felt icky from sweating buckets. Looking round the room my gaze caught sight of my reflection in the crude mirror; I saw how dreadful I looked

"Ugh." was all I could grunt at myself. Looking like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards was an understatement for sure. Hair sticking oddly in awkward directions that defy gravity and my pyjamas were plastered to me in a disgusting manner. Ripping my eyes away from the horror of my appearance I peeked out of the tent to check if anyone was awake. No sign. It was still early morning and the sky was a mixture of pastel yellows and blues. The jungle, ever restless, rang with songs and activity from all sorts of animals waiting to be studied. I let out my trapped breath and breathed the scent of the magical place I was in, fresh and thick with vegetation. Quickly I kicked of my pyjamas, washed myself with a flannel and a bowl of water before putting on my swimming costume, nothing flashy just a black plain costume, shoving on some shorts and my converse to finish.

"You really wanna get out there don't you?"

I span to see Lya siting on the edge of the bed like sleep had the best cat nap in the history of man. At least one of us had a good night's sleep. She just lay there as chilled as a cucumber, fiddling with her precious instrument. Threading her fingers over the pads of the sax before playing it to make sure the instrument was still working. I tried to tame my mane at the time, enjoying the sound of the jazzy saxophone in the early morning.

After the eighth attempt of shoving my hair up I managed to tame it into a ponytail. Lya had finished playing and gotten changed. "You know I think Dad likes the hot weather. The sax is…. Buttery, yeah, totally rad to play." Lya nodded in her spaced out mumble while tapping the pads.

"Come on, your starting to sound like a sixties throwback." I chuckled "Were supposed to be finding Gorillas today. I'm so excited!" I wasn't lying either. My stomach was writhing with the excitement of seeing wild gorillas in their natural habitat! All too soon I was dragging my dreamy friend out of the tent to see Dad and Mr Clayton already prepared.

"Morning Janie, Lya. Are you ready?" my father asked. He was also perky with the thought of adventure.

"Dad, I'm not 5 years old. I'm Nineteen! Don't call me that," I whined as I heard Lya giggling behind my back. Granted we weren't the most mature people in the world but still using babyish names was embarrassing.

"Oh sorry Darling; forgot you're not my little girl anymore." He teased while stroking his white moustache in contemplation. I rolled my eyes and, for the first time this whole trip I was thankful that Mr Clayton butted in for us to press on into the jungle.

…

Ok, I like a good story just as much as anyone but Clayton was really getting on my nerves, slicing his way through the jungle without a care that it may affect the wildlife at all and bragging about how Africa was made for-.

He stopped talking. A miracle! Then I heard a gunshot. If I followed the cut path it would take me longer to reach my father and that blithering idiot than just cutting through the intact bamboo. I tucked my sketch book under my arm and plowed strait through the uncut vegetation.

"Professor don't move!" Clayton ordered after my father had started going off into some drivel about Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus.

"Daddy?" I managed to push and shove my way through the Bamboo to see my father in a very wonky, frozen figure "Daddy what's all the hullabaloo about?" I raised an eyebrow at my father before feeling the force of the bamboo come back with a vengeance. With a twang it flung me back onto my arse. I got up and burst through the annoying vegetation to get to my Dad stubbornly. "What is it Daddy?"

He shushed me before going on to explain "Mr Clayton asked me not to move. He saw something," he whispered, his wobbling was gradually getting wilder. I frowned and it took all my composure to keep myself from yelling at the pompous buffoon. I stormed over and just herd my father fall with a thud to the floor.

I tapped the man, who was poking about some vegetation on the back nervously, trying to catch his attention "Er, Mr Clayton, sorry, 'scuse me but my father, friend and I came to study animals in their natural habitat and-" I was cut off but the man with the gun giving me a snooty look. All of the annoyance seemed to back away, leaving me to feel stupid.

"Dude, what she's trying to say is that the shootin' is scaring off the squeakers." Lya popped out of nowhere to sling her arm around my shoulders in a droopy hug as she referred to the animals in her own, dopey way. She was good at saying things I couldn't as bluntly as possible. I smiled and hoped that he had gotten the message.

"You hired me to protect you, your family and friends Miss Porter and protect you I shall." He declared. How thick was this guy's skull! He pointed the gun in our direction and I felt my partner stiffen from her sleepy state.

"And you're doing a _marvelous_ job of it," I replied almost sarcastically and poked the barrel of the gun away from my friend, "but we only have a few weeks before the ship returns and-" my rant was cut off by my father who had started hooting in excitement.

"Jane- I mean Jade, Lya! Do you realize what you're standing in?" he pottered over towards us and gestured towards the ground. "A gorilla's nest!" My father dropped to the ground and I knelt for closer examination before noting in my sketch book. Lya kept standing in her dreamy state and Clayton was behind me, I imagined him rolling his eyes but he seemed to take a genuine interest, kneeling beside me.

"At Last! Our first sign in days." Slightly dramatic but ah well. Maybe he wasn't as thick headed as I thought.

Lya shook my shoulder gently "Jay." She whispered but I was busy investigating.

"Do you think the beast could be nearby?"

Nope! I rolled my eyes at Clayton, the fully redeemed buffoon; oh he was a hunter all right.

"Jade," Lya shook my shoulder harder more urgent for attention "there's a weird dude behind Clayton!"

"Not now." I whispered back to her as my Dad picked up a leaf.

"Could be, there is the evidence." My father muttered, I looked around and gasped at the sight.

"Look daddy, Lya! Over there and there!" I gasped as I shook both of them.

"Yes, more nests!" my father cried victoriously.

"This is amazing sight of an ecosystem!" I felt like leaping up and dancing, this was an amazing discovery indeed. I remembered Lya and looked up "What was that about a man?"

Lya sighed and crossed her arms in a huff, "He's gone now, you missed him." She did have the tendency to have an overactive imagination so I didn't pay much attention. She looked around and noted the surroundings "Hu, Family groups. That's quite cute."

Clayton Laughed "Cute? Excuse me but these are wild beasts that would sooner tear your head off than look at you."

"On the contrary Mr Clayton it is well known that gorillas are highly social creatures-" I began to explain, he looked bored for a second but in a flash he had blasted two holes in the jungle canopy. Birds flew away in a panic, cawing in fright at the gunshot noise.

"Mr Clayton, please," I reminded myself to hold onto integrity while talking to our 'protector' "what if it's a gorilla?"

"It's no gorilla." He murmured while scanning above. We were all quiet for a nervous second before he lurched back into chatting. "Perhaps we should press on." And with that he carried on walking.

"I think I'll stick around here for a while then go chill in camp," Lya yawned "need to catch some z's." the Professor nodded before trotting off behind Clayton. I started following but was hit on the head by something. I jumped,

"Ow," I hissed and rubbed the top of my head.

"Hey it's raining Mangoes." Lya teased dopily before pointing to the fallen fruit on the ground. A little baby Baboon followed is and sat down right in front of us to munch.

"Oh your what's all the fuss is about." I sighed and admired the adorable little thing before opening my sketch book and drawing it.

"Jay I told you it was a dude!" Lya persisted from her previous topic, sounding slightly bored.

"Yeah sure," I replied, to busy concentrating on the Baboon but when I looked back he was gone. I felt a weight on my shoulder and looked over to see the baby. "Here ya go. What do ya think?" I asked the baboons opinion. It seemed to enjoy admiring himself in the sketch before snatching the book and running off. "Hey!" I cried and went after it.

"I can see this now 'The Great Baboon chase'." Lya groaned sarcastically while following me.

"Ya know this is starting to sound a lot like a Disney film." I huffed while collecting papers.

"Shit."

I turned to Lya with a stunned expression "What?" I asked, alert for anything else unexpected today.

"Well it certainly isn't a Disney film now." She explained bluntly, which oddly, made a lot of sense "Shit, shitty, shit, shit." She carried on like an overly chirpy stuck record as I rolled my eyes and followed the trail of paper to find the baby taking apart my sketch book. I picked up the papers around it and frowned.

"Give me that." I demanded the last sheet of paper off it. It waved me away before hugging the sheet. I was not impressed anymore by its adorableness. "Oh come on now enough of this, I want this paper on the count of three. One," is started like a peeved of primary school teacher.

"Girl you're talking to a baboon," Lya chipped in "and you say I'm bonkers?"

"Two," I carried on, realizing this wasn't going to work I pointed behind it and cried "Oh look, bananas!"

The baboon turned and I snatched away the paper laughing a little. It whined and reached out for the paper which I had shoved in my belt "I can't believe you fell for that one."

It stared wailing.

"No, No don't give me those crocodile tears. What would your parents say?"

"Oh shit." Lya repeated.

"You don't have to swear anymore Lya I get the drift-" I started but turned to see a pissed off hoard off baboons, all glaring at me.

"You see I told you they'd be cross." I gulped backing away from them before turning on my heel and sprinting away.

* * *

**Yo i know our ape-man hasn't been seen yet but he will be in the next chapter i promise :)**


	3. The Great Baboon Chase

**Third chapter now up! :3 Enjoy and PLEASE review :) it gets kinda lonely when your a writer :) **

* * *

I didn't really care at that point for questions or small talk I just ran like hell. Growling and roaring baboons where chasing after me and I was terrified shitless, to put it bluntly. The free-running skills a classmate had taught me suddenly became the best chance I had of getting away from the gibbering hoard, their orange eyes blazing in fury at me tricking their child. I spotted ahead that the path was ended by a gaping chasm,

_You can do it!_ I squeaked to myself and leapt in a weak attempt to jump the gap. When I found that I hadn't landed but was in fact flying through the air I had to resist the urge to scream with vertigo. Something was gripping my belt and when I looked up I saw him. A man in nothing but a loin cloth! At that point in time I wasn't examining him, my mind was reeling! Chased by baboons then kidnapped by a Wild-man who swung on vines and barely wore any clothes! That made me scream.

The cheeky bugger glanced down at me like he didn't know what the heck I was so fussed about! Like men always go swinging through the trees in underwear all the time! My attention was preoccupied suddenly by a baboon that had managed to latch onto my leg and had started gnawing my Converse. The lace snapped and with my other foot I booted the baboon off my leg forcefully, taking my Converse with it. To my weak success I had managed to reduce my screaming to squeaks that probably only bats could hear. That was until the Wild-man threw me up and he let gravity push me down into his arms again. "Put me down!" I squeaked in a terrified chant when we stopped, my legs were shaking with adrenalin and I wasn't really sure whether I could stand on my own two feet but it was better than being hauled away by a man with goodness knows what intentions! I wriggled about until he set me down gently with a confused but careful look. It confused me for a slight moment before the baboon problem reappeared. They swarmed towards us in the tree and I quickly changed my mind. If I was going to pick between being kidnapped by a ruggedly handsome man or being killed I would go with kidnap any day "Pick me up, pick me up!" I grappled onto the man who hauled me over his shoulder as we fell down through the trees; he was practically surfing on the branches. It was a wonder of god and speed that we didn't get caught by the rabble. The baboons had cornered us by running towards us on the same branch.

_Shit. _ The one window of opportunity was above us, I scampered up the man, maybe kneeing him once or twice, to have my legs wrapped round his waist from behind. With the extra height I grabbed onto the protruding branch which yanked us off and turned us onto another branch. The feat nearly yanked my arms out of their god damn sockets but at least we avoided getting caught. I suddenly felt gravity doing its thing and the man let go of me. I screamed again before landing in the Wild-man's arms yet again. He grunted in pain and he had the wide eyes and expression to match. The log we were on was weak and had cracked, forcing him to do the splits.

_Serves him right for tossing me about, _I huffed but the fleet of hissing baboons were just not giving up. They approached from the sides and I braced myself for gravity again. He dropped down through the hollowed out trunk which cracked and broke apart. Nothing was there to break our fall this time. I couldn't bring myself to open my mouth so the scream lodged in my throat as we fell to our impending doom. I latched onto the man for dear life and to my realisation our decent was slowing. He had grappled onto the vines and used them to slow the fall. We landed on another hulking branch; the man crouching with me clung onto his back. We both stared upwards as the old log tumbled after us smashing anything in its way. Quickly he carried me lower down on the tree before squashing our forms against the trunk, narrowly missed becoming paste.

We gulped in air, me shaken, him confused at best guess. The alpha baboon floated down with the con artist/mafia baby on its back. It was using a massive leaf as a parachute as it started babbling to the man who turned to start having a fully blown argument in baboon. Lya would die to be able to imitate animals like this man did, the audio and speech of different animals was her main project in biology and throughout the years we had started conversing in growls, grunts and whines rather than actually speaking to each other at home. It was very fun but at this point in time creepy.

He spun, my breath hitched as he looked me up and down before taking my belt plus the sketch and giving it to Mafia baby baboon that smiled and hugged the new objects with love. I snatched the chance to escape and crawled to the other side of the tree via a slim edge. My foot slipped and grappled onto a vine "I'm in a tree with a man who talks to monkeys." I said to myself, hardly believing what was coming out of my mouth. My hands shakily gripped to the vine tighter in desperation. If I swung onto the other tree branch I could find another way to climb down. It was only a small gap after all, so I wrapped my legs around the vine and threw my body weight forward to find I wasn't going anywhere but down at a painstakingly slow rate thanks to my weak limbs. "This can't get any worse can it?" I moaned.

It started to rain. I blinked and took it as a sign that God _actually_ hated me "Obviously it can." My body wilted with exhaustion, the adrenalin wearing off till the man appeared in front of me upside-down. He tilted his head to the side in confusion and I copied him strangely. My voice was now nearly dead from the roller coaster experience so I didn't even bother to make a sound. I lashed out speedily with my legs but I slipped down the vine, quickly grasping my legs around the greenery once more I just averted my eyes and tucked my head into my body, unintentionally showing fright. A warm arm gripped me round the waist and tugged me up onto a sturdy branch with a leafy canopy to shelter from the flash storm. I scrambled towards the trunk to put some distance between myself and the Wild-man "Stay back!" I warned but he carried on crawling forward his wide, green eyes perplexed like a child's. In an attempt to keep him at bay I put my bare foot on his tan, rock hard chest. My eyes couldn't help but marvel at the man's body, Jesus he was buff! And not as in steroid scary-as-shit buff but as so-god-damn-sexy-that- looking-at-him-felt-like-a-sin buff! Mentally slapping myself I got back to how close he was getting. I pushed my foot to move him back and he averted his gaze to looking down at the barrier his bottom lip stuck out, again like a child trying to make a hard decision. He lifted my foot up and started tickling the base. I couldn't help but laugh "Hey that tickles." I giggled uncontrollably. A smile of realization flitted over his features before tickling me more with a playful expression. "Get off," I cried in between breathless laughs until I felt the other hand move up my leg "Get off!" In reflex I booted him hard no longer letting my defense down.

This made him move back. He shook his head in disorientation, sending his long, wet, jet black hair fanning out, like didn't understand what he had done wrong.

"Serves you right." I wagged a finger at the unusual man "Now stay away or I'll kick your ass out of the tree." I stammered. The empty death threat seemed to fall on deaf ears as he just advanced yet again this time stopping centimeters away from my face. It appeared that his curiosity had no bounds. "I'm warning you," I squeaked as he started sniffing my neck then hair. His fingers gently skimmed my jawline and I lost it. My fist went to slug him in the jaw but he just grabbed it like it was nothing and analysed my hand, bottom lip sticking out and eyebrows furrowed in focused concentration. He had to be in his early twenties, possibly younger I noticed as he unfolded my hand. Recognition appeared on his emotional features. I could see every change of thought through those green eyes. I never even realized such a real person existed anymore. Once my hand was unfolded he put his big hand palm to palm with mine. Green eyes widened in disbelief at first as I looked to stare at him strait. The truth seemed to dawn on him and the soulful green narrowed, as if to say "I'm not alone".

Carefully, without breaking eye contact till the last second, he pressed his ear against my chest and closed his eyes in search for something, an answer? I was too flustered to even attempt to stop him and after the emotional overload I couldn't bring myself to try and hit him again. "o-oh ok then," I stuttered while trying not to flap about like a deranged bird. When he withdrew he had the biggest grin ever, it made me feel special in some way. Big hands cupped my face and pulled my head down to his broad chest and pressed it there gently, I looked up to see him smiling with genuine care. He didn't even know me. I heard the paced beat of his powerful heart hammer against my ear through the muscle. A blush blossomed over my cheeks and I pulled away after an awkward moment "yes, that's a lovely heartbeat. It's very nice." I fiddled with the hair that had fallen out of the ponytail and now hung down in a mess.

"It's very nice."

I snorted "I can't do much with it after our little escapade-" My sentence cut short with realization my concentration zoned back in on him "You do speak!" I cried with a big smile slapped across my features "Oh that's a relief, it thought you were just a crazy Wild-man for a second- where are you from? It would be lovely to kno-" He blinked in amazement before pressing fingertips to my mouth to shut me up. I did and moved back cautiously careful to understand his every move. He pressed his knuckles to his chest before grunting

"Tarzan."

I must have looked dumbstruck or an idiot because he moved forward slightly and grunted again "_Tarzan_."

"Tarzan?" I repeated slightly confused at the whole situation, frowning.

He became exited, grunting softly and grinning with wide eyes, expecting. Realization hit me like a brick. It was his name! "I get it!"

"I get it!" he repeated like a parrot. This was how he learned, pressing his knuckles to his chest, repeating "Tarzan," then he placed his hands on my shoulders "Igetit."

"No, no, no." I waved my hands and shook my head "I'm Jane." I indicated to myself. He copied in an interpretation of my voice.

I shook my head again. It needed to be simpler. "Jane," I indicated to myself "Tarzan." I touched him lightly, not breaking contact with those intense eyes "Jane." I pointed to myself. He brushed the loose strands of hair away from my face in a loving gesture which made me turn red in embarrassment,

"Jane." Tarzan murmured softly. I was not going to go into stunned 'steamed pudding mode' as my dad called it. When I went totally oblivious of everything and just melted at something or someone. At this point I was in the edge of steam pudding.

"Exactly," I whispered back.

The shot of a gunfire snapped the moment and we both jumped. "Clayton!" I cried. It had to be him, "That blithering brainless idiot." I hissed under my breath.

Tarzan moved away to scout out the unusual noise. It rang through the trees again, sending African Grey Parrots flying and scattering in the air, they cawed loudly in fright.

"Clayton." The ape-man repeated excitedly to the noise.

"Amazing," I whispered and stared at him before shaking myself forward "Can you take me to my camp?" I asked slowly, pointing in the direction. He looked up at me like an amazed child and, to my surprise, could imitate the gun noise exactly. "Yes Clayton amazing!" I rushed, vertigo was coming back and I didn't like it one bit. As if reading my mind he grabbed me by the waist and prepared to swing down on a vine. I braced myself and grabbed round his neck before I was dragged off my feet.

My stomach felt like it would never recover.

* * *

**Please review and comment :) hope you enjoyed and do tell me what you liked and what you want to see :D**


	4. The Camp

**Hey y'all :) soooo sorry I haven't written in a while but I am BACK! Ready to kick this off XD If you have any questions please do ask me. I want to hear you amazing people. **

* * *

Lya was in the camp, just chilling in her tent away from the angry sun that was frying her brain to a crisp. She was gonna go kablooey if she stayed outside much longer.

Lya had always preferred cold climates to hot ones. Guess that's good old British weather for you, cold, rainy and… well more rain. Unlike the broad expanse of Africa with its tropical weather and thick, humid air, this was a whole new world and she planned to catch it all on camera. Either in video recordings or photos.

While looking through the old recordings of Jade and her father, when they set off onto the boat with great excitement. Jane laughing and holding onto her sketchbook for dear life like a shield against what could be waiting for them, her father pouring over texts and bumbling about the place behind her. Lya remembered they were talking about how long the battery on her camera would last before it died and about her wardrobe choices. It wasn't her fault she liked bright colors.

"The only things you would blend in with are parrots!" Jade exclaimed from the recording. These two were more of a family to her than her mother, a drunken, jobless alcoholic back in grey England. If she could, she would live here forever. Her fingers brushed up and down the warm metal of her saxophone,

"Yeah dad, I guess you were right after all," she sighed before switching off the camera and lying back in a makeshift hammock. Even now the sun was bleeding through the tent roof, giving a soft heavenly shine to the room. Slowly her fingers traced the pads of her dad's sax before starting to play the smooth instrument.

After a while she swore she could hear grunts but it quietened down shortly after. Just the jungle playing tricks on her.

A crash from outside, followed by another. In rhythm.

The musician climbed ungracefully from the hammock before rushing to the tent exit. Gently lifting the flap with one hand to peak out while clutching her saxophone in the other she was greeted with an even crazier scene than she could ever imagine.

"Gorillas," her gasp lodged in her throat as she watched them play with the objects around the camp, curiosity getting the better of them. Slowly, she grabbed the camera and started recording. "Unbelievable, a group of young Gorillas-" an elephant stomped past to her alarm "Oh god and a random elephant, are in _our_ camp!" she hissed to the recording.

A female crashed into the CD player as it started playing 'Trashing the Camp' by Phil Collins.

Oh the bloody irony of it all!

After a quick fit of clamped, hysterical giggles, Lya managed to get a grip of herself to complete the recording. If anything else this was _so _going on YouTube!

Suddenly the female got distracted and the sweet music stopped. Looking with her camera she saw Jade… oh God! Jade!

After another stomach-churning gravity ride from Tarzan I was finally back on sweet, sweet ground. My legs were like jelly but at that point in time they were highly insignificant compared to the breath-taking sight I arrived to. Gorillas completely obliterating our camp. I didn't know whether to gasp for joy or panic at the state of our only belongings. Daddy was going to freak out when he saw what the monkey raiders had done to his science equipment and although Mr Clayton would not be amused by his gun collection and shaving equipment being everywhere, I was certainly finding it funny, imagine his face of utter horror now.

Tarzan had found his friends. The only female in the group charged up to him as he went forward to greet them and, with a playful expression, collided with each other. The grunting and oohing between the group was exited and hyperactive, coming out in short bursts as the two wrestled. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked up; there was even a random elephant in the destroyed camp.

It hit me then. Like a ton of bricks in the pit of my stomach. As I watched them I slowly realized,

"He's one of them." I stated to myself in curiosity. Who was this Tarzan?

The female spotted me and stopped to stare with wide eyes and a gawking mouth that practically hit the floor. Tarzan looked between us two staring at one another in marvel. His gaze flickered with hope, joy and discovery, grunting to his friend to go closer to me. Slowly I inched out of the tall grass to meet her. My mouth was hanging open like a fish but I didn't care. So close to a Gorilla, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled and alarm bells went off as I sensed something looming behind me. The exchange turned ugly. A snort made me turn to face the creature behind me.

He. Was. Massive!

A silver-back glaring down on me. My cry caught in my throat and all that came out was a strangled "Oh my-" before he roared, baring his impressively huge… sharp… pointy fangs. I could only muster a whimper as I sprang back to press myself against a wooden pole. The silver back sniffed me up and down before roaring angrily at the young group. The rest of the family followed as the silver back stalked away. I didn't dare unstick myself from the pole in case he saw it as a threat to his family, exchanging frightened glances with the ape man, feeling the need to beg him not to go. Eventually he got lead away from the camp by another gorilla. One last final begging stab into those green eyes before he disappeared, possibly forever. I knew he would leave even with that torn expression plastered on his face but… I didn't want him to. Off he disappeared into the foliage.

* * *

**I know this is a short chapter and i am sorry XD i thought it would be better to end it here but i have big plans :3 **


	5. Feral

**Yo! Thank you everyone I have been so happy to look at your reviews and I hope to live up to expectations. I would like to thank the following people;**

**Hermes **

**Stephen**

**Allanna Stone**

**you guys made me smile at your enthusiasm which is all i can ask for from an audience. :3 Anyhoo on with the show!**

* * *

"Jane, oh thank goodness!" my father rushed up to me as I slowly sank to my knees. Quivering like a jelly with adrenalin.

"What the- my things!" Clayton scanned the camp with mild horror and confusion slapped over his face; I would have laughed and committed the expression to memory if I hadn't just been almost squished by a silver-back gorilla.

"Jay, are you alright?" Lya emerged from the only untouched tent with a flourish, a camera in one hand and her sax in the other.

My mind seemed to latch onto her ignorantly, "You were here the whole time!" I squeaked, "Thanks for the help it's not like I faced a fleet of baboons, _and then _got kidnapped by a man in nothing but his underwear finally, to top it off, I almost got turned to paste by a massive gorilla!" I babbled while flailing my arms dramatically.

Lya but the camera in her dress pocket and helped me up. She looked at me with a reassuring expression; her grey eyes looked like they were saying sorry. "At least I got a recording of your confrontation."

She just had to open her gob. I sputtered, not even knowing what to say. Lya tapped my mouth shut and shushed at me until I became quiet. "Now, calmly tell us what happened," she instructed softly.

I went on to tell my wild, crazy, insane story. Dad chipping in with his little comments, Clayton stared at me wide eyed and Lya nodding occasionally and fiddling with the camera.

"and daddy they took my Converse!" I showed my bare foot, pointing at it dramatically before going on to remember the man, Tarzan.

"What on earth is she talking about?" Clayton muttered to my father with a worried look about him. He thought I was crazy!

"I haven't the foggiest idea," the professor mumbled back, "takes after her mother you know. She'd make up stories like that," he paused wistfully at the memory of his wife, "not about men in loin cloths of course but..." he trailed off.

"His name's Tarzan," I explained more about him, "the ape man." Thinking back on his behaviour and that pinning look he gave me in that tree… it seemed appropriate.

Lya pushed herself in between us all, "look, let's try and tidy up the camp then get some rest. I'm knackered and it's been a long day. We can talk crazy stuff in the mornin'."

A few grumbling agreements from the men and a nod from me we began the task of putting out belongings back where they were supposed to be.

…

I sat in our tent over the wonky desk. It was late at night but I just couldn't sleep. Too much had happened and I couldn't get the thought of Tarzan out of my head. I had been reading through some of my father's books to find little information relevant to this crazy phenomenon and most of the information I already knew. I groaned and slammed my head on the tome in front of me.

"Blimey Jay, you still reading?" Lya squinted over at me from her pillow which she had firmly smushed her face into. "What are you hoping to find?" she groaned and dragged herself out of her bed to look at my notes. Picking up the sketch book she looked through my scrawled writing and drawings with an eerily focused air about her.

"I've been looking through the books. Tarzan is definitely under the class of Feral human. There have been several accounts of feral humans but most of them were found when they were still children," I rubbed my eyes and recalled the cases; "however Tarzan looked to be aged around his early 20's if I had to guess. What are we dealing with here Lya?"

She peered up from the pages of the notebook with a somewhat severe look, "I don't know," she shrugged "your Dad would know more than we do. You're right though this seems to me, from your descriptions, to be a very extreme case. You said he could talk to different animals yeah? Well this could be a great insight into animal psychology and behavior. Imagine what we could do if we all could actually communicate with animals!"

I nodded quietly, chewing on the end of my pencil.

"What's wrong? You should be ecstatic about this." Lya plopped down next to me and stared at me until I replied,

"I am excited about this, it's just… What if he can't learn English? It's proven that after puberty a person cannot learn a language fluently. Look at the Genie Project for example." I sighed, "I want to know more about him, about his world but..." I trailed of, unable to finish my sentence.

"He may surprise us all Jade," Lya put her hand on my shoulder and smiled, "He already learned your name. If he can speak fluent baboon I'm sure English will be a piece of cake."

The night outside was all that could be heard while we sat in silence.

"Come on we should sleep," She patted me on the shoulder and strolled back to bed, "you'll be able to think clearer in the morning."

I shut the massive book in front of me with a thud. "Lya," I called to catch my friend's attention. She turned to look at me one last time. What I wanted to say caught in my throat at her sheer peacefulness threw me. "Thanks," I muttered, "but I think I'll sleep on the floor. Sharing a bed with you and your sax is like sharing a single bed with a sword wielding python."

She chuckled and hugged her Saxophone "whatever you say milady."

I curled up on the big chair I was sitting on and closed my eyes. What I couldn't have said to Lya still dogged me, the fact that most of these cases of feral humans, didn't end well.

…

The voice of doom had all but left me by morning; when I started explaining to my father about Tarzan. I drew on a blackboard with chalk,

"He didn't stand tall, rather he crouched," I drew how he looked in detail "like this, and he supported his weight on his knuckles, exactly like a gorilla would!" I veered into my exited voice again.

"Extraordinary." My father breathed in amazement. I demonstrated how he walked,

"You see he would crouch down and bend his elbows like this. Then he would walk like this!" I moved forward in a bad imitation but it still got the point across.

"Oh yes like Aunt Isabelle!" he cried and tried it out himself. I noticed a skeptical Clayton shooting an unimpressed glower but I just ignored him. I knew I was right and so did Lya, who was still in her colorful pyjamas attracting some butterflies.

"This his amazing a _man_ with no sense of human language, behavior-"

"-and _no_ sense of personal space." I finished off my dad's sentence. I crawled close to him, "he was this close daddy, staring at me!" I went back to the blackboard and started drawing his face. "He looked confused at first, like he's never seen a human before. His eyes were intense… focused," I finished off the drawing "I've never seen such eyes."

My father looked from me to the drawing before coughing "oh, um should I leave you and the blackboard _alone _for a moment." He teased.

Lya wolf whistled from behind me, "Jane Jade Porter is in love!" she laughed.

I giggled, "stop it you two. The point is think of what we could learn from him. We must find him."

"Professor," Clayton chipped in, "This was not what you came here to study, may I remind you that we still don't know whether this is some girlish fantasy or if it is true. However…" he looked from me to the blackboard then back to dad. I felt like I needed a wash after being stared at like that "if we do find the Ape man it would be very interesting."

I was confused; I rubbed my ear to make sure I heard correctly. He agreed that it would be a good idea to investigate? Well shoot me down and call me Nelly, perhaps he wasn't so evil after all. He picked up his gun and turned back to us "he may be a bit hard to find so let's-"

Just then he dropped down from the tree top to land right in front of us, Tarzan. My father's mouth dropped open like an American letterbox, Lya got up from her perch to move closer in amazement and I went to shoot Clayton an I-told-you-so look but realized he was preparing to shoot the wild man,

"No!" I flung myself at the barrel of the gun and it fired off shot, hitting an unfortunate bamboo branch.

"Clayton."

We looked back at Tarzan, astounded. He was half fiddling with my dad's mustache, half looking at me with wide, bright green eyes like I had remembered. His black long hair was down past his shoulder, groomed messily but not as knotted as people would believe. He smiled at me like a child discovering something then showing it proudly to his mother.

Clayton edged forward slightly, grabbing Tarzan's attention, "Have we met?" Clayton asked his tone suspicious, "How does he know my name?"

I laughed in realization, "he thinks it's the sound of the gunshot."

Tarzan swerved around Clayton and quickly came face to face with me. He reared up so that he was standing strait and moved some of my hair, which I gave up on long ago, out of my face. He hummed softly, almost contempt and spoke, "Jane."

Any closer and he would have been kissing me. Steamed pudding mode was creeping up on me again as I giggled like a little school girl, "Yes, hello Tarzan." Blushing was imminent at this point.

"I see what you mean by personal space Jane dear." My dad chortled.

"Well isn't he a looker," Lya half purred, half laughed as she got up to stand next to my dad.

Tarzan moved away from me and went to study Clayton, circling him before standing strain in an impersonation of the man. Lya and I couldn't help but snigger.

"Have you got the camera?" I asked in between silent laughter,

"Of course!" my partner in crime held the object up victoriously.

Our best work had finally begun. To understand Tarzan.

* * *

**Hey Y'all I hope you like the chapter :D any questions or ideas please do comment and review :3 **


	6. Learning the basics

**hey y'all, it's me! **

**now it has come to my attention that i had left some questions unanswered and some confusion last chapter so I shall clarify, hopefully, in this one. **

**When i stared writing this i wasn't intentionally trying to copy the characters so I changed something about them. Jane is tougher, for example. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan as to having black hair rather than brown dredds so I went back in the story's roots to change things slightly. :3 **

**another question was "Would Jane feel sorry for Tarzan for never having seen another human before?"**

**The answer to that, yes the Jane here would feel sorry but would try not to dwell on the matter for long.**

**anyway i hope i answered everything :D on with the show!**

* * *

While Lya and daddy got acquainted with Tarzan in their own unusual manner I had the feeling that I was being watched very closely. Just odd glances that he shot to check I was still there, I didn't know whether to blush or huff. It wasn't like I was in any danger, no meteor was going to fall out of the sky and crush me, and no ninja were going to whisk me away in a cloud of smoke.

Oh how others beg to differ. I turned to find Clayton indicating subtly at me. I didn't understand until I saw my notebook in his hand. The nosy bugger! I saw red and stomped after him to get my notes back.

"Jane, I'm sorry this couldn't have been a chat under friendlier circumstances," he started but I was having none of it,

"Give me back the pad _now_," I growled. If I was a cat my back would have been arched and I would have been hissing and spitting at the hunter.

He looked down at me before reading a page from the pad, "I know this seems a little strange but I feel a little bit in the dark. I'm not a scientist so can you please explain to me what Tarzan is and what all these notes are about?"

Snooty bastard; even now he thought himself higher than me. If answering his questions was going to get my book back then I had to suck in my pride and answer,

"What do you want to know," I ground out through my teeth. He smiled a toothy grin at me, a lot like an alligator would do before it ate its prey.

"Well first, what is a feral human?" he crossed his arms and leaned on the tent post. I sighed and thought on how to phrase it other than pointing at Tarzan and saying 'him'.

"A feral human is a human who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no, or little, experience of human care, loving or social behaviour, and crucially, of human language." I explained and waited for it to sink in.

"So people who have been raised by animals then," he mused.

"No not necessarily, there was a case called the Genie project in Los Angeles, 1970. Genie was a false name given to a girl who had been locked away in a solitary room for thirteen years of her life. She never developed a first language due to her isolation and only briefly came into contact with humans via her mother and father. It was a sad case of abuse but scientists found Genie fascinating due to the near-total social isolation and the possibility of developing language." Even now thinking about it lowered my spirits. How could someone even do that to their own daughter?

"So scientists are… extremely interested in these cases?" Clayton seemed awfully interested in the subject.

"Well yes," I muttered dubiously, "Each case found of a feral human has been different although not as extreme as Tarzan. For one usually feral humans are found as children and none of them have been as fast at establishing communications." I hummed quietly.

"Don't forget how he seems to remember different languages and is able to pick up our language just as quickly." My dad pottered into the conversation and rushed up to give me a tight hug, "Oh Janie, this is just marvellous! A phenomenal discovery, why scientists all over would be scrapping to have a chance like this! I have a hypothesis about that boy." He fiddled with the edge of his moustache in thought, "It will take time to see whether it is correct but the rate he is learning I would bet that he has an eidetic memory, or a photographic memory as it is more likely known as."

I frowned, "Are you sure? Talents like that are only usually carried out through childhood."

"Have you got any better theories my dear?" my father raised a fluffy white eyebrow at me. I took this as a sign to shut up.

"How did you come up with that?" Clayton frowned in confusion. It wasn't exactly a noticeable trait I had to admit.

"It is only a hypothesis but he has learned 2 new words during the short period of time he has been here and he can use them correctly. Calling me Professor and using Lya's name tree times to address her. I would not be surprised if his rapid speed of learning is down to photographic memory," he wiggled his moustache merrily, "they don't call me a Professor for nothing now."

I smiled at my proud father. He deserved his little bit of fame, it made me happy to see him so bouncy and merry; nothing like a good science project to get spirits up.

"_Wait_," I pulled out the word, "the three of us are here. So that means… we've left Tarzan with Lya!" I cried in panic. Lya had a talent for losing things, pencils, forks, dogs you name it she's lost it.

I rushed away, rushing back to grab my note pad back before running back to Lya and, hopefully, Tarzan.

I was met by an unusual scene. Lya was sitting on her perch with the camera moved out of Tarzan's reach. Her foot, planted on his chest, made sure he couldn't reach the object as they locked in an intensely focused staring contest.

"No," she said in a low voice. Not wavering in the slightest with her focus.

"No," Tarzan repeated back. He was trying to weasel his way round her, reaching for the camera and softly grunting.

I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing unable to muffle the giggles with my note pad. Lya jumped in alarm and fell backwards off her perch. Tarzan grabbed her by the ankles and hauled her back up ungracefully onto her seat.

"Jay, don't do that to me…ever again." She managed to say after getting acquainted with her bearings once more. Saying she looked traumatized was an understatement.

"Ya, well try doing that for half an hour and you will understand his version or transport," I indicated to Tarzan who had approached me once more and sniffing my hair and grunting something softly. I smiled back before turning back to my partner, "Where should we start?" I asked her. There was so much to show and so little time to figure stuff out.

"How about you start with language basics," My father approached and dumped a massive hardback book on a table which had enough dust to supply a museum on it.

Wide eyed me and Lya exchanged glances of horror.

"No offence Professor but were not in the dark ages any more. We have computers for a reason; quite frankly that looks scary enough to chase off the dinosaurs." Lya rooted through her bag and pulled out a yellow colored CD with the title Linguascope written on it, "I was using this to learn Spanish but it is a CD which also teaches German, Mandarin and English, ah Linguascope you are a hero."

"I've never seen that before? Have you been hiding something form me?" I raised a skeptical eyebrow at her.

She just shrugged at me; "ok so I barely use it I'm a biology student not a linguist," she got up and went into the tent with the laptop inside to set it up.

My dad was brushing his moustache, contemplating what Lya had meant, "there is no better teacher than a book in my view," he muttered to himself.

I rolled my eyes and went up to the ape man who was looking around our things curiously, coming to my training bag which I used to practice kickboxing. He poked it before nudging and sniffing the bag. I touched his shoulder "training bag." I pointed to the object. He repeated it several times still not knowing what it was for. I ushered him back to give him a small demonstration. I lined myself up to the bag and got in the right stance before lashing out and kicking the bag on its side. It was pretty weak but I wasn't built with strong muscles. I would get better in time and I would get stronger eventually.

Tarzan circled the bag then me before standing tall and nudging it then me. My balance wobbled but I was still standing. His child like gaze seemed fascinated at what I just did and looked from me to the bag in exited expectation. I grinned and kicked it again, this time a little stronger. Great use beating up a bag would do. He seemed to have survived a few fights himself with the creatures of the jungle. Pale scars across his chest, arms and abdomen were proof of that. He seemed friendly but I had to bear in mind he was wild and would attack something if it threatened him.

"Jay! The computer is ready," Lya peeked out form the tent with her camera trained on us. My fingers brushed him and I indicated for him to follow into the tent. He was cautious at first but eventually he went inside. We started his education, recording our hourly logs with the camera as we went.

Soon it was the end of the day. As we went out of the tent I saw the female gorilla I had met the previous day sitting next to an elephant which had a weird look of constant alarm about it. They were waiting for him it seemed. As he left he looked back at us. I waved sheepishly goodbye. He looked at his own hand and waved back enthusiastically before being dragged away by the female.

…

"You know Miss Porter you really should keep up some professionalism if this is a science project." Clayton pointed out afterwards. I shouldn't have felt anything about that but a pang went off in my chest.

"And what would you know about science Mr Clayton?" I snapped back angrily. The last thing I needed was the voice of doom coming back. "Where were you anyway? You disappeared for most of the day." He looked at me in mild shock. All his emotions were always mild unless it concerned money. I sighed and rubbed my eyes "I'm sorry Clayton, it's just happened so fast that's all."

"It's quite alright Miss Porter I should have been here I know but… I had a few calls to make."

I nodded and went to go get something to eat. I went into the tent to find Lya on the computer munching a banana, "Christ almighty," she huffed in a failed attempt to access the internet, "no signal!" she complained and shut the computer. I grabbed a mango and checked the skin before shrugging and taking a big bite of it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying not to dribble juice down my chin while I ate.

"I downloaded the camera photos and video logs but I can't get on e-mail to send them anywhere. The University wouldn't believe this!" she laughed and went back through the camera recordings. "You know Jade you're a real good teacher, you know that." She turned on me as I was in mid-bite of my dinner. I froze and blinked at her, probably looking like a dozy numbskull with mango juice all over my face and said fruit looking like I had made a right hash of it.

"You think so?" I asked as I wiped my face on my sleeve.

"Look," she showed me the video of me teaching Tarzan, "you have that certain aura about you. Tarzan certainly took a shine to you, in particular."

I couldn't help but smile softly at the achievement. Pride swelled as I watched the videos back. It was apparent that we both enjoyed learning from one another.

I couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

**Y'all know what to do by now :3 If you like post a comment and I hope I've solved some questions for you guys :D **


End file.
